History of Management

YEAR EVENT
5000 BC Sumerians begin keeping records as they form government and commerce
4000 BC Egyptians recognize need for planning, organizing & controlling
* 100,000 slaves to build pyramids
* Planning & authority structure essential to meet goals
1800 BC Babylonians establish the Code of Hammurabi
* Standards for wages, Obligations of businessmen, Penalties
* Set control system - targets for effective control
500 - 350 BC Greeks introduce specialization & scientific method
* Specialization is the cornerstone of organization
325 BC Alexander the Great: Use of Staff & Unity of Command
300 BC - 300 AD Romans introduce centralized organization
* Effective communication & centralized control systems
1436 The Arsenal of Venice employs an assembly line
1525 Niccolo Machiavelli "The Pragmatic Uses of Power"
* The end justifies the means
* Realistic guidelines for the use of power
1776 Adam Smith "Wealth of Nations"
* Emphasized division of labor
* Specialization & profit - keys to private enterprise
1800 Eli Whitney with invention of Cotton Gin comes...
* Interchangability of parts
* Cost accounting
* Quality control
1832 Charles Babbage - First to study Management scientifically
* Identified division of labor as key
* Demonstrated world's first mechanical calculator
* Father of Computers
1881 Wharton School (U. Penn) - First College of Business
1900 Max Weber - Father of Bureacracy
1900 Frederick W. Taylor - Father of Scientific Management
* Stresses "One Best Way" to do a job
* Bethlehem Steel - Pig Iron Experiments
* Died while winding his watch
1900 Frank Gilbreth "Cheaper by the Dozen"
* Independent of Taylor but same approach
* Time & motion studies - reduce fatigue & increase performance
* Died in a phone booth
1910 Munsterberg
* Application of psychology to field of management
* Died while addressing coeds at Radcliffe
1916 Henri Fayol
* First complete theory of management
* Established functions of management
* Father of the Process Approach
1927 George Elton Mayo
* Western Electric "Hawthorne Studies"
* Social needs as motivators - Father of Human Relations
* Impact of group interaction and group norms
* The "Hawthorne Effect" in research
1938 Chester Barnard "Functions of the Executive"
* Theory of organization, importance of effective communication
* "The ultimate source of authority is the subordinate, who chooses
to either accept or reject orders given by the manager."
1940 - 1994 W. Edwards Deming - Father of TQM
* 14 principles to follow and 7 deadly diseases to avoid

© William B. Snavely 1997